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SOCOM 3: US Navy Seals
The popular SOCOM series continues in what
should be a game that will impress both newcomers and veterans of the
title. The latest version carries a swag of goodies on it that will
ensure that gamers are spending a great deal of hours being caught up in
the adventure that Sony has provided exclusively on the PS2.
For
those who want an indepth gameplay experience, then this title is for
you as there are massive adventures for you to undertake on each level.
Once again you are in charge of a four man squad in a world of strife.
You can control vehicles of all sorts and the missions are quite varied
as to what you have to do, ensuring that gamers are simply not going to
get bored.
SOCOM
also is switched onto the fact that if you are going to have large
missions, then make save checkpoints damnit. Lately I’ve reviewed a
number of games that are quite difficult with no saves in mission, which
is quite frankly ridiculous. SOCOM spaces out it’s saves enough that you
are not going to get frustrated if you fail in mission but at the same
time they are decently enough spaced that there is definite challenge
whilst in combat.
Something that has been added to #3 is the ability to swim as a way to
get to your objective. Understandably enough, your weapon does not work
when submerged, however it is a good quick method of making your way
sneakily through the map and rising right in front of your foe and
busting a cap. Many of the maps in the game now have river or water
terrain, so you will get to make the most of this addition.
The
title takes you to several hotspots in the world including Africa, Asia
and Poland. The environments and the way that you make your way through
them in the game are very convincing and the developers have done a
great job with the physics engine. Heavy weapons are harder to control
when standing up and the damage done by various weapon types keeps the
title moving nicely with the allowance for enemy casualties. It keeps
you on your toes when the guy you’ve just shot, could very likely get
back up and fire back at any moment.
Control of the team is available again via either the USB Headset or the
controller. I usually found the controller a tad easier to get a faster
response, however it certainly adds to the realism of the title when you
are barking orders and your CPU team mates respond. At times however
some gamers might get annoyed with the response rate or just some of the
other silly things that the AI gets up to in the game. Whilst for the
most part they are pretty good and dependable, there are times that they
stand stunned whilst being pumped full of lead and others that they
don’t care that they are shooting right through you to get to the
enemy.
Finally is the online component where you will find most of your game
time spent. SOCOM now boasts a massive 32 player online environment with
still the full plethora of weapons and vehicles for you to work your
merry mayhem. Online speeds are good (depending on your connection of
course), the game handles all the action nicely. Some of the model
texture work is muted slightly to allow for a smooth game, but it still
looks great and is a fantastic opportunity to still show off your PS2 to
someone who thinks it’s all a bit old hat. Working with a team online of
human players using Voice is also massively rewarding.
Thumbs
up for this title. It’s proof that the workhorse still has some
surprises for gamers under the bonnet. Care is all that is needed to
make a good game and a proper understanding of the capabilities of the
console. Make sure you get SOCOM 3, you certainly won’t be disappointed.
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